Taking DW to London on Holiday...need help

[JDY]

I can't decide on a hotel. We don't have to have the best. Something nice, convenient, etc...

considering...
Holiday Inn Kensington Forum
Montague on the Gardens
any others?

Thank you

Any other tips you can provide would be great...restaurants, airport transfers (probably from/to Heathrow)...

 

[richard3330]

Hi

We stayed at Hilton London Kensington on Holland Park Avenue a few weeks ago and although the hotel was very nice, it was a bit 'far-out' for our liking. A taxi journey in to Regent/Oxford Street (main shopping areas) was about £15 - £20. It was also quite far from the major tourist attractions. However there are many other Hilton's across London, - www.hilton.co.uk

Holiday Inn at 100 Cromwell Road in Kensington is very nice, we stayed there last year. The rooms are on 2 floors with a spiral staircase linking a lounge-area with the bedroom. It was a lot closer than The Hilton, and only about a 2-3 minute journey from Harrods. There is also another Holiday Inn, nearby (I think the one you have mentioned) which is a lot bigger and a little bit further out. I think that also the rooms will be slightly smaller here.

There are many 'Travelodges' across London which are clean and affordable - www.travelodge.co.uk and also Travel Inn's - www.travelinn.co.uk

A great way to get from Heathrow-London Paddington (central railway station) is on The Heathrow Express - www.heathrowexpress.co.uk , which runs every 15 minutes. From Paddinton there are Taxi's and the underground (subway).

London obviously has lots of restaurants - a good place to start is www.london-eating.co.uk



Richard.

 

[Zarr aka Joe]

Hi JDY,

I've only been in London twice, both in 2002 (just was there over the holidays..) so I don't have a ton of knowledge to give you - but both times I stayed in Kensington and for me it worked out really well. I found being on the Picadilly Line (tube/subway) very convenient, plus the Gloucester Road Station also has connections for the District and Circle lines. Here's a great website for planning any travel on the underground before you go: www.thetube.com

Now as far as hotel - in late December I stayed in the Millenium Bailey's, just next door to the Gloucester Road Tube stop. I found it very convenient and while I had a smaller single room, it was clean and comfortable and the staff was very accomodating. I paid approx £65 per night (breakfast included), which may or may not be in your price range (approx US$100-105). You can see the hotel at:
http://www.millenniumhotels.com/mc/hotel_description.jsp?hotelId=41

Another option is to try priceline.com -- a friend and I did that when we went to London last March. The good thing about priceline is that you can specify which part of the city you want to stay in - this gave me some peace of mind that I wasn't going to be staying on Skid Row while there We lucked out and got a room at the Radisson Edwardian Vanderbilt on Cromwell Street, which is also near the Gloucester Road station. We paid I believe about £75 per night (approx US$120)which was great since we split the cost. However, I'm sure that there are even better deals to be had on priceline - it all depends on your preferences.

If you want no-frills hotel experience, you could try the Hotel Ibis chain. I stayed in one the night before heading to Paris, but I felt £50/night was a bit much for what I felt was like staying in a Motel 6. (www.ibishotel.com)

Re: airport transfers - since I was right on the Picadilly Line for both my London stays, I just took the tube. The airport is right on the Picadilly Line and it only took me approx 40-45 to/from the airport from where I was staying.

If you haven't picked up a travel book yet - I can suggest Lonely Planet's guide to London. I found it very insightful, had a ton of information and was laid out well. You can check the book out at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...002-1353990-8370469?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Hope this helps a little bit -- good luck with your travel plans & have a great time!

 

[#1MMFan]

Another vote for the Paddington Express. Very convenient and comfortable. Especially good for the return trip to the airport when you want to time the journey right.

John

 

[elisebutt]

Try priceline as suggested above - I got the Tara Copthorne 4* in Kensington for £40 for this Saturday. If you want some ideas for restaurants and things to do etc why not try the newsgroup uk.local.london - some of them are a bit wacky, but there aren't too many trolls.